After a short, uneasy silence, the defenders of the stage began to answer. By the end of the summer, ten rejoinders had appeared, among which was the anonymous _A Letter to A.H. Esq; Concerning the Stage_. The initials in the title have been identified as those of Anthony Hammond, pamphleteer, small poet, and politician, whom Bolingbroke characterized as "silver-tongued Hammond." Charles Hopkins has been suggested as the probable author of the pamphlet (E.N. Hooker, _Modern Language Notes_, LIV [1939], 388). Hopkins was a wit, a friend of Hammond, as of Dryden, Congreve, Dorset, Southerne, and Wycherley, a clever fellow who loved the bottle and the ladies so much that, according to Giles Jacob, he died at 36, "a Martyr to the cause." _His Epistolary Poems_, published in 1694, had been dedicated to Hammond and had included an effusive poem addressed to him. Some other wit among Hammond's friends might have been the author of the pamphlet, however, for Hammond yearned for immortality through the works of others and frequently asked writers of his acquaintance to mention him. Whoever the author was, he spotted the weaknesses in Collier's arguments, at the same time pointing out the essential usefulness of the _Short View_ as a corrective. He was not particularly original, for many of the points he made were considered public property by writers in the controversy. Thus, along with Dennis and others, the writer admitted the necessity for reform, but opposed Collier's apparent desire to abolish the stage. He pointed out the fallacy of Collier's argument from the authority of the church fathers and the absurdity of his contentions about the ridicule of the clergy. And using ancient doctrine, he defended the stage as an instrument of instruction in manners and morals. Of particular interest is his belief that the stage had contributed to the improvement of the language, especially in dissuading the clergy from a fantastic, conceited rhetoric. The fury of Collier's attack seemed to dull the wits of the defenders of the stage. Too often they allowed themselves to be drawn into quibbling over trivialities. None of them distinguished himself with a brilliant answer. With the exception of Dennis's _The Usefulness of the Stage_, the _Letter to A.H. Esq._ is as suave and sensible as any of the answers, and considerably better then many.